A Change in Fate
by donth8ontheberry
Summary: Marley Rose may not have had it all, but she had her life all figured out. Sort of. However, her senior year abruptly changes when she meets a mysterious boy named Ryder Lynn, with a dark past, and an even darker future. Will Marley throw away her dreams to add some light into his life, or will the two together find a way to change their fates for good?
1. Stalling Time

Hey guys! This is my first Ryley fanfiction, and I figured a new ship deserves a story thats a bit out there, so I hope you guys enjoy it!

This chapter is pretty long, but most likely the rest will be shorter :)

It was the worst sound in the world. The alarm, loud and earth-shattering, escalated to undiscovered volumes as Marely Rose fumbled while trying to hit the snooze button.

It was 5:00 a.m. on a Tuesday. Normally, Marely would sleep until 6:30 in the morning, straighten her long, dark hair, put on some quick eyeliner and jeans, and be out the door. However, today was a special day. She needed to put a little more makeup on, put a little more effort into her hair, and wear something that screamed "professional" and "sophisticated".

It wasn't too long ago that Marely Rose, yes the Marely Rose that barely talked and just transferred schools the previous year, was elected Editor in Chief of Bayside High School's student-run newspaper, The Daily Baysider. Senior year was going to be hectic, but everything she's ever dreamed of. Power, authority, and of course, feeling what it's really like to work as a journalist.

As she defended the staircase, her father's eyes lit up, and her mother completely stood up and starting breaking out into sobs.

"Oh my god, mom!" Marely screamed, and dramatically winced. "It's just this dress and stockings and heels.. and…"

Marely continued downstairs, only to have her face cupped in her mothers shaking hands. "This is not just about your clothes, Marely! This is your future! Look at you, all dressed up. This is step one to everything you always wanted," her mother said.

Her father, whose eyes then again drifted back to his newspaper, ignoring the eggs on his plate, looked back again at his wife and daughter. "Can you believe I might actually be the parent of a child that may get accepted into Columbia's School of Journalism?" He said.

Marely sighed. "That's IF I can get in and IF i can get a scholarship" Marely said.

Her parents exchanged a depressing glance on the word scholarship.

"Sweetie, I mean, I have some money saved up but the grocery store just hasn't been getting the best business and -" her mother began. "And I could maybe bring your car down to the tire shop, maybe I can fix it real nice and we can sell it -" her father continued.

"Guys! Stop. I don't want your money. We don't have it. I'm going to try to get a scholarship. All I need to do is work hard this year and hopefully… produce a good enough paper and.." Marely's ranting trailed off by the sound of the car horn. "Kitty's here, gotta go. Love you guys!" And Marely was running out of the door.

Kitty was Marely's best friend in the whole world, but so impatient. "Jeez beep the horn a few more times next time!" Marely joked lightly as she got in the car. "Good morning to you too, Ms Editor in Chief Rose" Kitty said sarcastically. Marely sighed and they were still mid conversation when all of the sudden, he was there in the middle of the road.

He was tall, and…built. Marely pretended not to stare. His hair was light brown, and his dark brown eyes produced such a look of unfathomable sadness that Marely felt the need to run out of the car and comfort him.

"HOLY FUCK" Kitty screamed and slammed on the breaks. The boy looked apologetic and kept walking across the street. "WHERE DID HE COME FROM? I JUST ALMOST KILLED HIM!"

Marely was ignoring Kitty now, and watching this boy walk in the same direction they were. He had…so many bags. Like. a suitcase, a backpack, and a drawstring bag. He was also carrying a few textbooks, all without breaking a sweat, too. "Does he go to our school..?" Marely asked, still watching the boy.

Kitty stared at Marely incredulously. "You've never heard anyone referring to someone as ''back boy?'' Kitty asked, dumbfounded. I don't even know his name, I don't think anyone does, and he always has a million fucking backpacks. It's a shame he's so hot too because everyone thinks he's a freak, and probably gay considering whenever girls talk to him he like, doesn't speak." Kitty explained.

"We should pick him up, those bags have got to be heavy.." Marely whispered.

"Yeah we should also study for this french quiz today but we didn't do that either," Kitty said.

"Well if you don't pick him up, I'm…going to walk with him," Marely said proudly.

Kitty gave her a look. "Fine, go walk with him, then. I'm not having my reputation ruined because of your little nice streak."

Marely gave Kitty a look. THIS side of her best friend was not uncommon to run into. Self-absorbed, obsessed with popularity… It still sometimes boggled her mind that they were even friends. But she knew Kitty was more than this, unlike anyone else at school.

"Okay. Let me out here. I'll see you in French." Marely exchanged with Kitty one more parting glance before the red Toyota drove away.

Then Marely started walking a little faster. She didn't want to call out to him, that was weird, right?

"Hey," she began as caught up to the boy, who was clearly even more attractive up close.

He looked at her with a surprised, almost embarrassed expression on his face.

"Can I help you?" he said, shocked.

Marely could notice that he had dirt on his let cheek, and that his dark blue thermal had a rip in its left side. His shoes, that apparently used to be white, were now covered in mud.

Hurt. Anger. Disappointment.

"Hi! I'm..I'm Marely. I saw you with your bags and I was just going to offer to help you carry-"

"I can take care of myself." he said, even more coldly than before.

"Oh.. I wasn't implying that you couldn't.. you look all strong and -" Marely began babbling.

The boy's lips, once parted in a line, now formed an almost half-smile.

"If I let you carry something, will you stop nervously babbling?" he said, almost…sweetly.

Marley nervously giggled, and grabbed one of his backpacks and placed it over her shoulders.

She could tell just the slight loss of weight on his back had done something, because the boy sighed with appreciation.

His eyes suddenly grew soft. "No one has ever offered to help me before… so, thank you, miss-" the boy began, and Marely just noticed how sweet his voice was.. almost child-like. Charming.

"M-m-arely, Marely Rose," Marely stammered, and awkwardly held out her hand. The boy stared at her open hand, and gave her a leering look.

"So shaking hands is still proper etiquette?" the boy laughed, and his laugh sounding like bells of a wind chime.

A red color formed all over Marely's face and she began to move her hand away before the boy grabbed it again.

"My name's Ryder, Ryder Lynn," he said, with almost a tinge of nervousness escaping his velvety voice.

"Nice to meet you," Marely said, again feeling nervous. They walk in silence for a moment.

"So.. what are all of these bags for?" She began.

A spasm of tension spread across Ryder's face, but eventually he spoke.

"Ya kno, just books, and sport equipment sometimes I go to the gym during lunch or after school and it's just really nice to have my stuff and uh my computer is in there I feel naked leaving uh home without it and I uh -" Ryder began ranting.

"It sure feels heavier than all of that" Marely commented silently, but luckily for Ryder, they had just reached campus. Ryder removed the bag off of Marely's shoulder. "So, uh, thanks again. I'll see you around," Ryder said quickly before darting in the other direction.

Marley's day seemed to pass in a blur. After school she would have her first meeting with The Baysider. Try-outs were today. Unfortuanetly, a task she had to do today was go to random classes and ask students TO try-out. Oh god, stage fright was definitely not her favorite thing in the world.

Her last class was a senior-level chemistry class. Awesome, her own peers would have to see this train wreck.

The teacher graciously let Marely in the front of the room, and just as she was about to open her mouth, she made eye contact with him.

Ryder. He was wearing different clothes this time. His bags were…no where to be found. Where was his computer… and why weren't his sporting equipment lining the back walls, like all of the other kids were allowed to do during their last class? He met her eyes for a brief second, and then looked down and did not look back up.

"Hi guys, I'm Marely, some of you already know that but uh…yeah. The Baysider is Bayside High School's student-run newspaper, and although it hasn't been as much of a big deal in previous years, as this year's editor-in-chief, I have a lot of great ideas.." she began.

"We're looking for junior and senior reporters. Junior reporters are only required to produce one story a week, and senior reporters have three assignments. You can literally write about anything going on at school. Opinions. Arts. Sports. Events. It's really fun and we meet every day after school and -"

At that part of Marely's speech, Ryder met her eyes again, with a unintelligible expression.

It wasn't unnoticed, and Marely had to stop herself from staring back. "So yeah sign-ups are today, with a brief try-out nothing big. It's honestly an amazing thing to get involved in, but I have to tell you that some nights you WILL be here until late hours meeting deadlines but it's fun we can order food and -"

She had literally lost everyone's attention. Except Ryder's.

"Thanks, hopefully I'll see some of you there at 3:30 p.m. in room 104." Marely said, and then embarrassingly exited the classroom.

She watched the clock reach 3:30, as she sat in her desk in computer lab 104. It had computers and desks and was just recently decorated in anticipation of the next year.

Her staff, weird to think of that way as HER staff, was running around like crazy. Kitty, especially, SHe wondered if it was a mistake to put her as managing editor…

"It's almost 3:30, hopefully you did a good job with promoting this," Kitty said nervously.

"Yeah, at least some people will show up. We'll need them too. We only have like, 7 writers."

"Well..incase YOU didn't do a good job.. I found some recruits of my own.." Kitty said.

At her words, a flock of kids walked in. The popular kids, the jocks, the band kids…everyone! The room was filled to the brim. Marely gasped. "Kitty…how?" she whispered excitedly.

"HEY KITTY! THANKS FOR INVITING US TO YOUR HOUSE PARTY THIS WEEKEND!" a random boy shouted, and his followers bellowed his appreciation.

Kitty looked at Marely with an apologetic expression, and Marley glared hard.

These people were only here for Kitty. Not to write. Not to learn.

"Okay, everyone take a seat, please," Marely began. She was amazed by her newly elected power, still.

"Hi guys, thanks all of you for coming. You'll find a sheet of paper on your desk with some quotes, some sources, and an event, and a location. The test of this is to see how well you can arrange a story," She began as she paced around the room. It's amazing how good she felt doing this.

"Who is speaking, whose voice? Why do students CARE about this? What words can paint the pictures brightly enough that you HAVE to read the story, have to check it out? THAT is what-"

Marley was interrupted by the door opening, and Ryder walking in, now carrying all of his bags, and placing them against the wall. He locked eyes with her for a brief second, before taking a seat. Everyone sneered.

"I wonder what little boy he has stuffed today in those bags," someone said. Marely shot them a glare so fast, and this did not go unnoticed by Ryder, whose lips formed a half smile again.

He did not ask questions, he just began writing. Marely watched. He looked hard down at the paper, held the pencil a little too tightly… was she really watching him this closely? He was so beautiful..

One by one, students finished writing, and handed them in to Marley and Kitty.

Ryder was the last one.

It was getting late, it had been almost 2 hours since the meeting started. This assignment was meant to be completed in an hour… what was taking him so long?

Kitty was growing annoyed.

"Excuse me uh…I don't know how much longer you intend on wasting our team here, it's either you can write or you can't -" Kitty began, struggling to recall a name.

Marley interrupted and approached him.

"Ryder," she said softly. "Do you want some help?" she said, before noticing that he was already done. He had written almost a novel, and had been sitting there pretending to write. Why?

"Oh well, I can see you are finished," Marley said. Shocked.

"I'm sorry I was just stalling.." Ryder whispered to her."It's okay, I'll leave."

He left without a parting glance, as Marley examined the novel that was now sitting in her hands, and the calligraphy that was written in the form of his name at the top of the page.

Who WAS Ryder Lynn?


	2. Late Baysider Nights

Thanks for the reviews and follows guys! Sorry the first chapter had a few errors. I'll be more careful this time!

Updates for this story are going to be pretty random. I'm a freshman at Penn State as well as a reporter for their newspaper,  
(hence the journalism theme). I'm on fall break right now so I had time to do this, but I'll try to update asap.

This chapter is also pretty long.. Here's chapter 2 :)

* * *

Marley didn't sleep that night.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his story, which wasn't even a story at all...

_Two more pairs of jordan shorts  
A few more pairs of socks  
Blankets  
Pillows  
Boxes of crackers  
Toothbrush_

Marley was looking at it again now, or at least trying to through the scribbles.

Was this a list? Did he stall time to prevent going grocery shopping? These all seemed like basic necessities..  
Why was there a need to write it all down?

Of course, beneath the half crossed out list, was the story he had written. It was solid. He used the proper quotation marks,  
more than enough of the provided sources, and it flowed together nicely. Marley was impressed.

But the situation was so abnormal.. so... different. She had to investigate, but how?

No.

This was none of her business. She didn't even know him! Why did she even _care?_

Well it certainly had nothing to do with his smile. It was just bright and beautiful and..  
And it absolutley had nothing to do with the way his smoldering brown eyes locked with hers at the most inopportune times.  
And NO WAY IN HELL did his arms have anything to do with this little obsession.

Unfortunate visions of eyes, and arms and smiles clouded Marley's mind until she eventually slept.

* * *

The next day of school seemed to drag, as if ever hand on the clock was purposely staring at Marley.  
All she wanted was for the clock to hit 3:30 p.m., so she could once again be in the Baysider newsroom and see..

See _him._

At least lunch time came relatively fast.

Kitty and Marley had eaten lunch together since middle school when they first met, but over the summer,  
Kitty had dropped 25 pounds (and she was already of average weight) and that apparently now qualified her to put on a  
cheerleading uniform and sit at the popular kids' table at lunch. So now, Marley was going to sit alone.

_Awesome_, she thought, as she took the last table in the back of the cafeteria. Some loner boy named Harold had always  
sat back here, putting q-tips in his ears and playing with his Pokemon cards. He did not look at her as she sat at the opposite end of the table.

_Why am I sitting here?_ Marley thought. _I'm not a loser! I'm Editor-in-chief of the Baysider and I'm going to Columbia and.._

And then the tears started rolling and she didn't have the strength to stop. At least no one was around, or so she thought.

"Marley?" a familiar chime-like voice called out.

It was Ryder. He was standing near her, and eyeing her with concern.. or was it judgement? Marley couldn't tell.

His bags were no where to be found.

She quickly wiped her eyes, too quickly, and tried to put on a professional act.

"Hello Ryder," she said. "I'm about to type up the list of reporters the Baysider is taking this semester. How are you?" She said almost too perfectly.

He sat down without invitation across from her, and smiled almost too cutely.

"Actually yeah that's what I wanted to talk to you about," he said doubtfully.

Marley's eyes widened.

"I know I'm probably not the best," he started. "In fact, I know I'm not probably good at all but... I need this club. You can just have me work the printers or maybe edit some things or fetch you coffee or -"

"Ryder" Marley said a little too quiet. "I would NEVER make you fetch me coffee, and although I'm not allowed to discuss the matter.. you made the paper. Your writing was consistent and had a very unique yet accurate style to it. You'd be a great asset to the Baysider," she said again too professionally.

Ryder noticed her professionalism, too. For the first time since she's seen him, he looked truly happy. His eyes sparkled like diamonds.

"Oh," he said, surprised and somehow blissfully happy.

Well obviously anything Ryder was thinking had to be re thought out from Marley's response.

"Well, thank you, seriously," Ryder said in a less tense tone. "I guess I'll be seeing you after school today."

As he started to stand up to walk away, he turned around and gave her a smile that nearly knocked her heart out of her chest.

"I know we don't know each other well yet, but, you don't have to be so...perfect all the time," He said assuringly. "I'm sure you'll be a great EIC."

And then he was gone.

* * *

Ryder was the first one in the classroom, right on the dot at 3:30 p.m.

"Welcome to the first budget meeting of the semester!" Marley said a little too reserved.

She eyed Ryder, who was half smiling at her, and took a deep breath.

"Well, you are all here because you demonstrated talent on your audition submission, hopefully you all received my email saying you were accepted.." Marley said.

She was now suddenly worried that some potential writers haven't checked their email. She could see the leadership judgement in Kitty's eyes, who was standing next to her.

Kitty rolled her angry, hazel eyes.

"Anyway," Kitty began. "We need to start getting in the hang of things. The paper is distributed every Friday, so deadline is midnight on Thursdays, and our budget meetings are every Tuesday's."

Marley was glaring at her. _Always stealing the spotlight_, she thought to herself.

Ryder locked eyes with Marley again. Obviously her apparent frustration did not go unnoticed.

Marley nearly fell over when he raised his hand and interrupted Kitty. No one ever interrupts Kitty.

"Marley, I was wondering what happens after the deadline on Thursday," Ryder asked proudly, slightly smirking at Marley.

She blinked twice before she spoke, and took a deep breath. _Not too professional_.

"Well, we send the final printed pages to the printer in the back, not the most professional setting but it gets the pages done and final and then whoever is working on copy desk that night puts the papers in the designated spots around campus.. Occasionally I'll be here to help as well if anyone needs anything!" Marley said.

Ryder nodded.

Suddenly Kitty stopped speaking and was giving Marley a hard glare as she continued.

"Okay, back to budget meetings. So since next Friday will be the first printed issue, I have a few easy ideas for anyone to try to pick up over the week.."

She bent over to pick over the budget sheet on the desk beside her, and heard a whistle come from the crowd of baboons.

The look Ryder gave the apparent whistler was nearly frightening, and the sound stopped.

Tension filled the room and Marley began to sweat. He locked eyes with Marley again, as if to say, _I got your back._

_Stop making up things in your head, _Marley thought to herself. _He was obviously angry at something else._

"Okay, so anyone who wants to pick up a story, just raise your hand and I'll put your name down," Kitty said, drawing attention to the chalkboard.

Marley began reading from the sheet. "So, we want a story on what a few school clubs are doing, what are their plans for the upcoming semester, etc. It should be a pretty easy story to get sources on, just contact the presidents of a few clubs, like 3 or 4. This will be a big feature story. It may require a few late nights here but there is a directory of club president's and their contact info so it shouldn't be hard to -"

Ryder raised his hand. "I'll take this one."

Kitty gave Marley a strange look, as if to say, _what the fuck is he doing here_, and wrote his name down along with the story.

"Great, Ryder" Marley said. "I can help you with it whenever. The deadline is next Thursday."

Ryder smiled and nodded, and wrote down his assignment in a little blue notebook. Marley was now curious as to what else he has written in there, since it was obviously too tiny to be considered for school purposes.

Other stories were dished out, other reporters took note. Kitty wrote everything on the board, but Marley's head was somewhere else.

That 'somewhere else' was staring right into two warm, brown eyes, and feeling two strong arms all around her...

"Marley" Kitty said a bit too angrily, too firmly. She must have stopped paying attention.

"Right, the question," Marley snapped back to life. "Yes, Cassie, you can use the background information from the school's website."

As the clock struck 4:30, people began filing out the newsroom, and Kitty began to attack.

"You lost focus like, 4 fucking times," Kitty said angrily. "Some EIC you are being so far."

Marley looked like she was about to cry. "I thought you were my best friend, Kitty.." Marley said too softly.

Ryder interrupted them.

"Hey Marley, I'm going to get a head start on this story, mind if I stay here a bit?" he said, gesturing towards the row of computers.

Marley stammered. "Y-y-eah, sure. Go ahead, Ryder." Marley said surely, not leaving Kitty's eyes.

"We will talk about this later," Kitty said swiftly, and she was out the door.

Trying to keep composure was never Marley's thing. She had her back to Ryder now, just silently crying and wiping her tears on her sleeve.

She then felt warm hands on her shoulders, and suddenly she was facing him.

"Don't let her get you down, ever. Okay?" Ryder said, and then smiled so beautifully it could have been heartbreaking.

He sat back down at his computer without saying a word.

"Okay well, I'm going to take off, call me if you need help or anything," Marley said, then realizing the choice of her words.

Ryder looked at her again with those big, brown eyes, and suddenly Marley forgot numbers existed.

"Right, you don't have my number.." she laughed nervously before she could say anything.

Ryder wordlessly pulled out his phone, all smiles, and Marley gave him her number.

"Thanks, Marley, see you later," Ryder said sweetly. And then Marley was out the door.

* * *

_Shit. Fuck. Fuck Fuck Fuck._

Marley was pacing the floors of her bedroom around 11 that night. She had left her science textbook in the newsroom, and the assignment was due at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow during class. She must have been distracted.

_DAMN THAT RYDER AND HIS EYES_, she thought to herself.

Her movement ceased as an idea flashed in her head, and then she was in her car.

An old '65 blue Ford Taurus could never get her far, but it could definitely get her to the high school in minutes. Hopefully a janitor would let her inside.

Hopefully.

In minutes, she was pounding her fists on the front door of Bayside High School. Missing a homework assignment would be similar to the apocalypse for 4.0 grade point average, community service junkie, college dream applicant Marley Jai Rose.

One of the ever enthusiastic looking janitors let her in, with a puzzled expression. And then Marley was running at full speed, keys in hand.

"Forget my homework, thanks!" she shouted apologetically to the confused custodian.

* * *

A slight scream escaped Marley's lips as she realized who was STILL, over 6 hours later, sitting in the newsroom.

Bundled up, in almost pajamas, bags lining the walls, adorable and sweet as ever Ryder Lynn, who now looked embarrassed and panic-stricken.

"Ryder! My God, what the hell are you still doing here?" Marley asked, looking at the computer screen. He was playing League of Legends.

Ryder stood up in apology. "I was working on the story and caught up and now well I..uh..." he said, the words escaping in an unsure fashion.

"What are YOU doing here?" He asked, obviously changing the direction of the conversation.

"I left my textbook," Marley said, now searching the room for the damned book.

"Oh, this?" Ryder said, pulling out a textbook from one of his bags beside the computer. Marley looked surprised.

"I figured you would need this and that I would see you tomorrow," He said sweetly.

"Thank you," Marley breathed, and all of the panic on her face was replaced with suspicion. "See you."

Marley ran out the door as fast as she could.

* * *

For the remainder of the week, Marley had done a little experiment of her own, fuck science.

Every night, after leaving the newsroom, she would conveniently "leave a textbook" in the newsroom, and have to go back late in the night.

The janitors probably thought she was fucking nuts, but who the hell cared, anyway?

Ryder was always there, sweet as ever, waiting for her with the textbook in one of his overflowing bags.

His excuse was always "working on the story" and Marley never asked, but always wondered.

_That's it, _Marley thought as she was leaving Thursday night. _He is up to something, and I am GOING to figure him out._

She felt so devious as she waited in her car, in the parking lot. Eventually, he was going to come out, right?

Wrong.

It was hours. The clock on Marley's car radio read 3:30 a.m. Maybe she had fallen asleep, but the light in the newsroom was still on, as she could see from her car.

And then she saw the light turn off.

Her senses heightened as she stared at the boy walking out of the parking lot, with all of his bags.

Feeling devious and creepy as fuck, Marley followed him. Ever so silently and slightly, keeping her distance. He walked very fast.

The route that he walked was a normal one, just up the road, down a few side streets, and then Marley saw his destination..

It. Was. BEAUTIFUL.

It looked straight out of the Elizabethan era. His house was Victorian. Beautiful. LARGE. There were no words.  
It looked like the kind of house where the parents had chefs and maids and the kids had a luscious backyard to play in and a backyard pool  
and grill area for summer night barbecues and where parents could sit and drink wine and discuss trends in the Stock Market.

This was where he LIVED? Then why was he never home!?

Marley kept a good distance, pulling up silently to a house a few down, and watched him walk inside.

As she prepared to drive away, she heard what sounded like screams, and lots of them.

She drove closer until she was somehow, subconsciously, outside of his house listening.

More screams. Horrible screams. The sounds of glass breaking.. the sounds of thuds and bodies hitting the floor.

"I'M JUST HERE TO-" she faintly heard Ryder began speaking, only to hear the sound of more glass breaking.

His screams were more painful than any pain she had ever experienced. They were raw. He. was. in. _pain._

Marley's frightened eyes widened and she fought the urge to run inside and make sure Ryder was alive.

She didn't have to.

Moments later, Ryder, with no bags, was sprinting out of the house, with his apparent father in the doorway.

"AND NEVER FUCKING COME BACK," he screamed, only to be encouraged by the woman standing next to him.

And Marley didn't care if Ryder wondered why she was there. She didn't care if he thought she was creepy and invasive.

"GET IN THE CAR!" Marley screamed as loud as she could, and Ryder did not think twice.

He was in the car and Marley floored the gas petal until they were miles away from that Victorian house.


	3. The Final Straw

Hey guys! Thanks for all of the positive reviews. I feel like most ryley stories are all about the love triangle, and Glease, so I'm trying to do something WAY different. It gets a little..crazy, but I hope you can appreciate the storyline. Thanks ;D

Probably obvious, usually anything I have it _italics _are Marley's thoughts.

* * *

Marley had so many questions, but now was not the time.

She wanted to pull over, hold him, unfortunately, comfort him, but now was not the time.

Silence. Tears.

Ryder. Was. Crying. There were waterfalls of tears escaping his usually ever-composed big, brown eyes.

Those same big, brown eyes that Marley unfortunately would kill for, were in tears, and there was nothing she could do.

He tried to keep it silent, he buried his head in the window, trying to breathe evenly.

_How the do I care about him so much already! ?I've known him for what, a week? What am I doing.._

He had no bags. He had just been kicked out of his own house. Marley tried to process thoughts.

Should she touch him?

_No, too soon._

So she took to the highway. Driving at a comfortable 65 mph, attempting to keep from speaking, she turned on the radio.

Music didn't help. She fumbled with the stations, waiting for Ryder to speak when his tears ceased.

But they didn't.

Marley shook the thought and decided it would be better for both of their healths if she pulled over.

And suddenly, they were alone. In silence. In the middle of the highway at 4 a.m.

And Marley couldn't keep herself composed any longer, and tears began to roll down her face.

It was like a switch went off inside of Ryder, and suddenly wide shoulders and warm hands were all Marley could feel.

"Marley what can I do to get you to stop crying? Please, I'll do anything" Ryder said, almost shaking her for answers.

Marley was dumbfounded.

_He. Is. Comforting. Me?_

"Ryder are you crazy?! Why are you comforting ME!? Don't you want to know how WHY I was out front of your house!? Are YOU okay? What the fuck was that? How long has this been going on?! Should we call the police, like do you need a place to stay!? You can always stay with me and my God I'm crying because I'm frustrated seeing you in pain just kinda killed me and -"

Marley's ranting was silenced by Ryder's warm lips, pressed against hers. Her face was now cupped in his hands, and tears continued to roll down her face.

What was this warm feeling Marley felt rushing throughout her entire body?  
Who was this mysterious boy that somehow made her heart beat out of her chest and her hands shaking as she gently caressed his face?  
There was not any part of her mind or body that wasn't Ryder Lynn in this short moment.

The kiss didn't last long, and Ryder pulled away nervously.

Marley was speechless. "W-w-what.. What was that for?" she managed to break out.

"For being here. For being here the other day. You're somehow the only person in my life that's ever been there for me.." Ryder said, the pain seeping through his voice with every broken syllable, his composure fading again.

He couldn't help the crying continuing, although it appeared he was trying hard.

_Answers can wait, answers can wait._

Marley didn't know how to comfort him, so she awkwardly held out her arms, as if for her to cradle him like a child.

_Oh god, he wouldn't wanna lay on me, he's a man and -_

Ryder fell into Marley, as she held him. There was something about it not child-like at all. His arms were wrapped around her waist, and his sobbing face was dug into Marley's shoulder, as she slowly whispered to him and stroked his wispy, light brown hair.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said softly. "We can talk about it when you're ready."

Ryder didn't say anything in response, his arms just locked tighter onto Marley's torso.

* * *

Hours, minutes, seconds.. some unidentifiable moment of time had passed, without knowledge of either the girl or the boy somehow brought together in an old navy blue Ford, on the side of an unknown highway at 4 in the morning.

Ryder had calmed down after sobbing for about an hour or so, and now was laying with Marley in silence. Sleepy, almost.

She knew they could not fall asleep here, so she started to fiddle with the radio again.

She had no idea what kind of music he liked. Marley flipped through the stations, briefly scanning over different rock and pop hits.

And then Ryder grabbed her hand to prevent her from turning the dial.

_"Bought a beat up six string, in a secondhand store. Didn't know how to play it, but he knew for sure.  
That one guitar, felt good in his hands, it didn't take long to understand..._

_So he just started rockin', never gonna stop. Gotta keep on rockin, someday he's gonna make it to the top.  
And be a juke box hero, got stars in his eyes, he's a juke box hero..."_

Marley was speechless. She hadn't noticed that her eyes were bugging out of her head and that maybe she should try to control her heartbeat since Ryder was kinda, ya know, laying on her chest.

Ryder could...sing? What? Since when? There was a derpy choir of school boys that sang together at every assembly, and they were terrible.  
Why wasn't he in that? His voice was so...rough. In a good way. Edgy and beautiful and hot..

_Hot._

He stopped singing when he met Marley's eyes, looking embarrassed.

"You...sing?" Marley asked. _Stupid question, I just heard him sing. Stupid stupid._

"Sort of," he said shyly. "It's kinda how I hold myself together when things get nuts," he said unsure.

And Marley was afraid he had spoken too much, and the dam was going to break again. She tightened her arms, ready.

Her assumption was correct.

* * *

Marley was awoken by the faint light that hit her pale face.

Was she dreaming? This was certainly not real life.

In her arms, she was cuddling and apparently fell asleep with Ryder Lynn, the same mysterious backpacking boy she had just met. This was the same Ryder Lynn that everyone teased and didn't know could be so vulnerable and honest and sensitive..

She decided to appraise the situation. Cars were now back on the road, which gave her an inclination of the time.

6:42 a.m.

"Fuck!" Marley screamed. She had never missed a day of school in her life, and she especially couldn't now with the Baysider and all!

Ryder was shaken awake, and began frantically looking around the room.

"W-what? Where am I? Whaa?" Ryder panicked, and then his body was on the other side of the car, like lightning.

Marley was sure she could hear the shattering of her own heartstrings. _Why was he pulling away?_

"I shouldn't have come here. I was doing fucking fine until you showed up," Ryder said, not once meeting Marley's eyes.

The normal Marley would have cried at this moment, allowed her body to close in and sob out all of her independence.

Not today, not when she barley knew this boy.

"What the fuck are you talking about Ryder!? You've been here _crying _on me all fucking night! I've been here for you all night!" Marley said as quietly and composed as she could, and was unfortunately failing.

Ryder's face went pale.

And he was out of the car.

"What the fuck?!" Marley said as she watched the boy walk away, down the highway.

"Where are you going!?" She shouted in desperation.

He just kept running, like he wasn't even human, without wasting a breath.

And Marley couldn't even turn around, she was on the goddamn highway, so she kept driving.

She didn't know how she was managing to see through her tears. She could no longer see him in the rear view mirror.

Where was he going? Why was he pushing her away? Just when she thought they were getting somewhere..

"_You're the only person that's ever been there for me."_

Finally pulling off the exit, and finding her way back to the high school, she parked the car and sobbed.

Two fingers were placed to her lips, reminding her of the warmth that was there one night before.

And now he was gone, and she had no idea where.

* * *

Why the fuck was she at school?

"Nice of you to show up late," Kitty said briskly as she walked by Marley, beating her to the newsroom.

_Oh, right, that's why I'm here_, Marley thought to herself and sighed.

She had been worried sick all day. Was he in school? Would he be here?

He wasn't.

To attempt to distract herself, she began editing stories. It was getting so late, she was the only one still here. Her clock read 12:02 a.m. Shouldn't the school have kicked her out by now?

"_He's a Juke Box Hero, got stars in his eyes..."_

Marley shook the memory and fought the urge to go run around the fucking streets looking for him. It has been HOURS.

How could he be okay out there, with no stuff, no family? What was he DOING?

And then there a knock on the door.

_Don't get your hopes up, _she thought, and what a false statement it was. She could feel her heart racing.

It all happened so fast.

One second, she was opening the door. The second, her mouth was covered, and her body was being tugged behind a nearby desk.

Ryder.

"Shhhhhh, trust me. Please. Shhhhhh" he said so quietly she could barely hear if she wasn't so close.

_Ryder._

Marley just wanted to hug him. Or slap him. One of the two.

But now was not a good time.

"I think I saw him go back here..." a familiar voice said harshly.

Then she saw them. Ryder's parents were here, looking for him.

Uh, what? She eyed Ryder suspiciously, who reciprocated the glance with a look of...fear?

Marley didn't understand why they were hiding, was why there fear, it was just his parents?

Then she heard what was obviously the sound of a knife gliding roughly against a nearby desk.

"Where could our little boy be..." the female voice said again, a villain straight of Marley's nightmares.

"I'm not sure," the male voice responded. "He got in some car. I saw the car here."

Marley's face went pale.

"I know, but who's fucking car is that even? Ryder never had any friends," the female voice said again.

"I don't know, but this is pointless. Why would be he be here at the school?" the male voice responded.

And then through unintelligible arguing, the voices slowly began to fade. They were leaving. Each sound of a foot hitting a stair made Ryder's grip loosen on Marley's body, but Marley did not relax.

"What...what the fuck was that," Marley barely managed to choke out.

"The reason why I left you earlier. The reason I am constantly on the run. The reason I can't ever go home," Ryder began.

Marley wasn't following.

"My parents are fucking insane," he choked out. "They always have been, except recently it's gotten worse.. They've never pulled shit like this before. This was the first time they brought a weapon..."

Marley was dumbfounded. He was used to this behavior?

"Ryder we need to call the cops -," Marley began.

His grip on Marley tightened again.

"No" he said assuringly. "You don't think I have before, a thousand fucking times?" Ryder said. "Nobody believes you when they show up to the beautiful house of the perfect Lynn family. "Paul Lynn, manager of the town's only bank, minister on Sundays, tormenting his son? Impossible," he mimicked.

"Well you are never going back there," Marley said strongly. "And you are NOT running away again. You're staying with me tonight."

Ryder's eyes widened, and a sly smile spread across his warm face. "In your house?"


	4. Behind Brown Eyes

Hey guys! Thank you SO SO much for all of the followers and reviews! They are like crack to me, I promise.  
Sorry I haven't updated. Like I said before, I am a student and I work for a newspaper so I'll right whenever I can! This chapter mainly focuses on Ryder's backstory, but here's chapter 4! :) #teamryleyforever

* * *

What the hell was Marley Rose getting herself into?

It was now a little past 1 in the morning, and Ryder and her were driving from the abandoned school parking lot to her house.

_Her_ house.

Where they would sleep.

Together.

She shook her head absent minded, as if to wipe the somehow unclean thoughts from her mind.

It didn't go unnoticed.

"Marley... are you.. are you sure about this?" Ryder said so quietly, she could barely hear him.

Marley didn't even notice that they were right in front of her house when she almost had to slam on the breaks.

The thing is, Marley was more sure about this than anything in her entire life. She wanted to see Ryder safe. She never wanted him to have to go back to that torture chamber ever again. She wanted to know him. She wanted to sit with him and have him tell her all of his deepest secrets, and she would tell hers as well.

She wanted to feel those arms wrapped around her, and hear his gentle voice gently in her ear. She wanted to _for once_, feel accepted.

To be loved.

However, she couldn't ignore how her parents would react. Should she sneak him in? Should she wake them?

Her thoughts were abruptly put on pause when she heard the somehow velvety, yet husky voice again.

"Marley, are you alright?" He said softly, his hand gently brushing her shoulder and forearm.

"Yeah." Marley said almost too quickly. "I'm just debating on how to tell my parents about this. I'm thinking we're going to have to sneak in."

Ryder's face then went pale, and she swore he was about to start crying again.

"I don't want to cause you any trouble, Marley. You've already done so much.." he began.

That's when she grabbed his face.

"RYDER! You have to stop. I know this is hard for you. But I'm not leaving. I'm not going anywhere. The faster you accept that is the faster that we get inside and get comfortable," Marley said, without being cautious of her choice of words.

Ryder winked at her, and the two started hysterically laughing, bells and chimes.

The laughing ceased, and the two just stared at each other, without speaking. Marley was almost getting nervous at the silence.

It was like Ryder was studying her. He slowly raised his hand, as if doing so would cause negative repercussions, and softly caressed her cheek.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked softly. "All of this, putting yourself in danger like this.."

Marley winced slightly at the touch, and then fell into it, her entire body relaxing into a state of bliss.

"Because of this. This is important to me," Marley answered a bit too quickly, and her face began to beat red.

Ryder smiled.

"You have the most beautiful color to your face whenever you blush like that," he said again, still touching her face.

Marley's smile was interrupted once again by Ryder's warm lips, pressing against hers in the most familiar fashion, as if they had been kissing forever.

"So," Marley breathed, once the kiss was once again ended _too_ soon. "I guess let's get you inside."

* * *

It was like the worst movie ever created just unfolded. Marley couldn't believe it had gone as awfully as it did.

They tiptoed, well, Ryder carried her, to the front door. Marley looked through all of the windows. All the lights were off, not a person in sight. The TV wasn't on. Nobody was in the kitchen. It looked totally safe, right? They would just walk upstairs and wake up super early the next morning and go to school early before her parents even woke up. Perfect, right?

Wrong.

"Take off your shoes so it's quieter," Marley whispered so softly she was proud of herself.

And then the light switch was flicked on, and Marley's parents were sitting on the sofa. Waiting.

How the _hell_ did she not see them before!?

"MOM!" Marley shouted without realizing. "I didn't think you'd be awake..."

Ryder, who was squeezing Marley's hand, now dropped to his side, and his face resembled one of immense fear.

"It's not like you to not come home, sweetie, so we waited up," Marley's father said, now standing up, walking toward the two.

Ryder gulped loudly.

"And who is this that you have so graciously presented us with on this early hour?" Her father said again, glaring at Ryder now.

"I'm Ryder Lynn, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Rose," Ryder said so swiftly, and held out his hand.

_How did he just do that, Marley thought. He just flipped a switch and became Mr. Charming._

Mr. Rose reluctantly shook his hand, and Ryder smiled.

"He works on the Baysider with me, and uh, something came up and he needed a place to stay.." Marley began stuttering and nervously babbling.

Mrs. Rose held up her hand. "Wait, Ryder LYNN? Oh! You're Paul and Sue's boy!" she exclaimed.

Marley wanted to squeeze his hand as they made eye contact that was somehow humorous and also frightening.

"Yeah," Ryder said casually, masking the pain so easily, as if he had been masking it forever.

Marley winced the easy flowing of his words, knowing the true emotions that lay beneath them.

"They're out of town for a few days!" Marley said too quickly without thinking, and Ryder just stared at her.

She nervously made eye contact with him, waiting for him to go along with her spontaneous, risky plan.

Ryder blinked twice before answering. "Right, yeah, my dad was asked to give a few daily sermons at this really big church in the city.."

"Oh well that's amazing! What a great guy.. but wait, why would they leave you here then?" Mr. Rose asked cautiously.

"They knew I was on the Baysider and that I had stories to finish, and I wasn't going to make Marley's job even harder by bailing," Ryder said, calm and reserved. Marley sighed at the smoothness of his response, and studied her parents reactions.

They didn't speak, but seemed to accept.

"Okay, well then you can stay here until they get back, sweetie" Mrs. Rose said sweetly. "We have a guest room upstairs, Marley can show you."

Mr. Rose still looked somewhat suspicious, but motioned the two upstairs. Marley mouthed 'thank you' to her parents, and grabbed Ryder's hand as they descended the staircase.

* * *

As Marley was helping get Ryder settled, she couldn't help noticing him looking around the room, with a look of enchantment on his face.

Marley worked in silence as she began pulling sheets out of the closet, and putting the bed together. She looked up and caught Ryder staring at her again.

She smiled. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Ryder said too quickly, still looking around the room in shock. "I just can't believe all of this. I've never seen a room this nice.." he said, running his hand across the wooden dresser, staring at the pictures on top. One picture was of the three of them, Marley and her parents. They were in Times Square, and were all smiles. "Your parents are so great, you must love them a lot."

Marley was dumbfounded. A room _this_ nice? This room was a box. They lived in a tiny row home and barely made a living. And Ryder thought this was _nice_?

"Uh...Ryder? Your house is like, the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.." Marley said, giving him a questionable look.

Ryder laughed slightly. "You don't see it how I see it, obviously. Sure, it's beautiful. Sure, my own bedroom was four times the size of this.. but it's not about the material things..."

Marley finished making the bed, and encouraged Ryder to lie down. He didn't hesitate, and motioned for Marley to join him. She knew if she slept here with him she would be murdered the next day, but she didn't care.

The next moment, they were laying in bed together, eyes locked, on their sides facing one another.

"I still can't believe you're here," Marley whispered.

"I can't believe I get to be here with you. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world," He said, caressing her face again.

Melting into his touch, Marley got so distracted. All she wanted to do was lay here with him forever, cuddle up against his strong body, and kiss him until her lips fell off.

Unfortunately, there were matters at hand bigger than her physical desires.

"You know you can talk about it," she said hesitantly. She didn't know if he would fall apart in tears again or not.

Ryder sighed, and scooted closer to Marley so that their bodies were touching in the most comfortable fashion.

"I never slept in my room. It was a place where I hid, but even then, it was never really that safe. You could never be sure what was going to happen day by day.." Ryder began.

"Just being to lay here in peace, undisturbed.. is something I am not used to. My parents were always fighting when I was kid. I mean literally every day. I don't even know why they married in the first place. Probably for money, I would assume. Shallow fucks. Anyway, it would be inevitable not to hear them. Everyday. I just stayed in my room and I played my guitar..."

"Wait, you play guitar?" Marley intervened, way too excited. She had always wanted to make out with a musician.

Ryder blushed. "Well.. uh, a little bit. I write songs too, I keep them in this little notebook..."

_So THAT's what that notebook is for. _

Marley couldn't help but flashback to seeing it in the newsroom that first day. "Anyway, continue. Sorry," Marley blushed.

"As I grew older, the fighting grew worse. It was like as the years went on, they grew more and more miserable with each other. Neither of them ever fucking paid attention to me. I got straight A's. I would bring home report cards, squealing and all, and my mom would eye it for a half a second, give me a 'that's great', and go straight back to the alcohol, if she wasn't already on the verge of passing out. She drank whenever dad wasn't around, probably to deal with it all. Unhealthy as ever. Dangerous, too."

Marley's stomach was dropping at the sound of this story. She couldn't relate at all. Her childhood was filled with horseback riding lessons and writing and family vacations and home cooked meals.. and she never felt more lucky than during this moment.

But her chest ached in an inhumane fashion for the boy laying before her, the pain in his deep, brown eyes inconceivable.

"The alcohol sent mom over the edge. She knew being with my dad wasn't good for her. At times, I would try to talk to her about it, but no one wants marriage advice from an eleven year old boy," Ryder joked darkly. "It was around that same time they found something to take their anger on - me. I can't explain it, it was just like, the more they hit me, or punished me, or the more they took away.. it somehow saved their marriage. It was like spasm of pain I felt counteracted with them. They found pleasure in doing it together, like it was the first thing they could agree on. That's when I started working out..."

Marley hadn't noticed that she'd stopped breathing, and she reached down to grab Ryder's hand, and squeezed it tight.

"I began playing every sport to get out of being home after school. I played football, basketball, baseball, you name it. I built muscle, and strength. Body building for me was never about the looks, or the girls, it was always about self defense. It was when I had my growth spurt in ninth grade that my parents started to stop. They kicked the crap out of me when I was just some scrawny kid, but now that I was bigger...stronger.. they knew I could fight back. I did. I can't tell you how many times the cops were called on us and how easily they would always cover it up.."

Marley hated to interrupt his story, but there were way too many questions.

"Wait, so.. when did you start carrying your stuff? And why did you join the Baysider if you usually did sports?" she asked cautiously.

She was proud of him and his composure. Sure, the pain was spelled in bold print letters on his face, but he did not cry. Not once.

"Well, once they realized they couldn't physically hurt me anymore, they started fucking with the rest of my life. Sick fucks.. They called the school and made up some bullshit doctor excuse as to why I couldn't do sports anymore, and of course if Paul Lynn says it, it goes. They started messing with the stuff in my room, too. I couldn't take it. I couldn't be a prisoner anymore. It's senior year, ya kno? I cannot WAIT to get out I just have no idea where to go..." he began to trail off. "Anyway, so I started carrying the essentials with me, and I tried to not go home as much as possible. I know everyone taunts me with all of the bags, and yeah it hurts, but if anything ever happened to my computer, or my guitar, or my clothes or just other basic things, I'd go insane. They can't have EVERYTHING.."

There was brief silence for a moment. Marley's rapid heartbeat was the only sound.

"I joined the Baysider because of you," Ryder said shyly. "When you helped me that day, I had no idea who you were or why. You were just a beautiful, kind stranger that somehow wanted to help the school freak. And then I heard you were the Editor in Chief, and it involved days after school, and I wanted an excuse to just...watch you. I'm sorry if that sounds creepy, but you kinda helped me, and I  
just this desire to somehow pay you back.. protect you if you needed it.."

And that's when Marley started kissing him and she didn't stop.

Ryder, caught by surprise, had to gasp for breath, but reciprocated forcefully.

When Marley kissed Ryder, it was like she finally felt alive. His taste, his slight touch, the cute little sounds he would make, the way his lips would part as she let her tounge slide into his mouth..

She wished they never had to stop kissing. Ever.

It didn't last too long, disregarding Marley's intentions.

"We have to be good, your parents are so cool about this," Ryder said, pulling Marley closer to him.

She just stared at him, half embarrassed, and smiling. She snuggled up to his chest with the highest state of pure bliss.

"Thank you for telling me all of this tonight, I know it couldn't have been easy.." Marley whispered, slowly letting her body drift off into sleep. The alarm was set for 5:30 a.m., when Marley would go back to her room to not be caught by her parents. They had a few hours of this left, at least for tonight..

"Everything is becoming easy when it comes to you," Ryder said, squeezing her tighter. "We just have one slight problem.."

Marley's eyes shot open. They had the same thought at the same time, and she faced him again, now wide awake.

"We need to get your stuff tomorrow."


	5. Escape

Hey guys! I am overwhelmed by the number of reviews, and follows. They make me so happy, you have no idea.  
I'm sorry my updates are so random, but I write pretty much whenever I have time/inspiration, and this usually occurs  
very very late at night. This chapter is a bit longer than the others. Keep on giving me feedback, and I hope you enjoy chapter 5! :)

* * *

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

The loud, shouting voice awoke Ryder and Marley in explicit panic. Marley shot straight out of bed, and Ryder began frantically getting dressed, as if it somehow in this moment was not normal for a guy to sleep in their underwear.

"Mom! Dad! I'm so sorry, we were just talking and we fell asleep here -"

"No, Marley. This has gone too far. We were even crazy saying that this stranger could even stay the night, and you end up in the guest room, lying next to him? Wonder what you two were doing all night long -" Mr. Rose began yelling frantically, now pacing around the room.

_Fuck I forgot to set the alarm. I can't believe this, it's not what they think.._

"Guys! Mom, Dad! This isn't what you think! I promise you, you know I'm not that kind of girl..." Marley began pleading.

"It's my fault," Ryder began remorsefully. "I needed someone to talk to and I made Marley stay and we just fell asleep -"

Mr. Rose held up his hand, Mrs. Rose, with a look of panic and apology written all over her face, stood behind him.

"I will not tolerate this, young lady," Mr. Rose began. "We gave you our trust, and you blew it. Do you REALLY want to end up like that Jen Kelly down the street? Pregnant, at 17 years old? Do you realize she's working 3 jobs now and never got to see the city -"

"Honey," Mrs. Rose whispered to her husband apologetically.

Marley just stared at the ground, her face covered in tears. She had never been yelled at like this in her entire life. She was always such a good kid, the kid parents would brag about. And now she was getting THIS talk?_ They didn't do anything!_

"Don't talk to her like that, she didn't do anything wrong!" Ryder screamed, looking exasperated and more sure of himself than ever. "She was being a good friend to me, and I would never disrespect you by doing anything impure in your own house -"

Mr. Rose ignored Ryder's plea, as if he wasn't even standing there.

"Marley, I have never been more disappointed in you, jepordizing your future like this. I thought you wanted Columbia. I thought you wanted to work for The New York Times and finally make it in the city and make us proud-" he began ranting, ignoring the tears spilling out of Marley's heartbroken, crystal blue eyes.

Her tears sent a look of pain so drastic on Ryder's face, that everyone stopped to stare at him, including Mr. Rose.

"We need get to school," Ryder said so quietly that Marley could barley hear, and mindlessly grabbed her hand and began heading toward the door, where Mr. Rose was now standing in front of.

"We're not done with this, Marley Rose. And you," He began pointing at Ryder. "Do not come back here."

And with that, Marley and Ryder ran downstairs, the tears escalating down her pale face.

"Look what you did," Mrs. Rose said too quietly for the two running downstairs to hear.

Mr. Rose just huffed.

Marley was wearing the same clothes as the night before. Her hair was knotted and hands were shaking. She was waiting for her mother to run downstairs, apologizing for her dad's overreaction, but that didn't happen either.

Marley was heartbroken.

They ran out of the front door, car keys in hand. Marley wordlessly ran into the car, and Ryder climbed into the passenger seat, repeatedly calling her name.

"Marley, look at me," Ryder whispered so gently, and grabbed her gently by her shoulders, allowing her body to face him.

That same look of pain spasmed across his face, seeing the tears in Marley's eyes.

"Shhh, don't cry, sweetheart, please stop crying..." Ryder pleaded, wiping away her tears in the process. When that didn't work, he pulled Marley into a tight embrace.

She let out all of her tears, not saying a word. Ryder held her there, closing his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm being a baby, I've just never been yelled at like that before. I can't believe he didn't believe us.." Marley began, finally beginning to slow down her tears and speak clearly.

Ryder's grip didn't loosen. "You're not being a baby, parents hurt you. People hurt you," Ryder whispered and kissed her hair. "But not me. I can promise you, I would never hurt you..." he said, each word rolling off of his tongue and hanging directly in the air above Marley, as if she needed to breathe to take it all in.

_I would never hurt you._

Isn't that what Marley had always wanted to hear? Those little words with so much promise and hope for the future. For once, a friend that wouldn't hurt her or let her down.

Speaking of let downs, her cell phone chimed with a text from Kitty.

Awesome.

Marley unfortunately untangled herself from Ryder, who looked equally as disappointed, to read the text.

**Kitty**: Well maybe if you stopped fucking bag boy by now, you'd be in the office already helping me manage this damn paper.

Marley was dumbfounded. News spread SO fast in this town.

Where was the city when she needed it? It was so close she could almost taste it. It was just a train ride away, not that far..

She showed Ryder the phone, who sighed and shook his head.

"Bag boy is really uncreative, don't cha think?" He said, smirking.

It made Marley laugh, and Ryder looked accomplished.

"Good, now please keep that beautiful smile on your face, and I promise I'll try to get through this day," Ryder said.

Marley tried to smile in between Ryder kissing every single tear on her face away before kissing her lips.

* * *

They arrived at school early, so Marley could deal with whatever was going on with the Baysider.

Kitty was already in the journalism classroom, just as Marley would have predicted, trying to show her up again as usual.

Ryder had decided not to come, for fear of Kitty making fun of Marley. She had insisted that she didn't care what anyone thought of them, whatever that _them _was anyway, but he already felt bad enough about her parents.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Marley said without much enthusiasm, and took her seat at her desk.

Kitty, of course, took the desk next to her, watching Marley read stories over her shoulder.

As Marley finally began settling into the zone of grammatical and style errors, she heard Kitty laughing.

"You think you're so great, don't you?" Kitty said, a devilish grin spreading on her face.

"What is your PROBLEM with me, Kitty? I don't understand. I'm sorry I'm not a bitchy, overconfident, somehow popular cheerleader like you! Do you even CARE about this paper, because all you seem to care about doing is undermining my authority-" Marley began shouting.

Kitty laughed harder.

"You think YOU would even have the shot of becoming someone like me? Marley, do you know what everyone even _says_ about you? They say you're this bossy, spoiled, loser who thinks just because she knows how to edit an essay that she's better than everyone else -"

And with that Marley was out the door, and there were no tears this time. There was anger. There was rage. It was written all over her face. She had enough of being yelled at today, and the day had barely even started. She had enough of feeling that she wasn't good enough. She had enough of what people thought of her, and why they even cared.

All she wanted was Ryder, and New York City. Was that so hard?

She found Ryder in the gym, of course, interrupting his morning work out routine before he hit the showers before first period.

"Have you ever just wanted to run away?"

* * *

"You know you can't leave, Marley," Ryder said to her apologetically, as they ate their lunch. Alone, at the table in the back with that weird kid Harold cleaning his ears again, who again, was giving them judgmental looks. Typical.

"I know," Marley sighed, and took another sip of her milk, barely touching her food.

"Please eat," Ryder said, as if skipping one lunch might kill her. Somehow overprotective and cautious, as always.

_Were they even dating?_

Marley rolled her eyes and dug into her chicken sandwich, watching Ryder slightly smile.

"You happy now?" Marley said playfully. "If you like it so much, why don't you eat it?" she said before tossing a small piece of her bread at him.

Ryder looked shocked. He started tickling her, in the middle of lunch, at the table. He grabbed her sides so she couldn't escape.

"Am I a fucking piegon?" he said playfully, and Marley's laughter echoed through the entire cafeteria, until they began receiving looks from everyone around the cafeteria.

Marley blushed, and Ryder let her go, only with a slight kiss on the cheek. That didn't help with the blushing.

"Well now that that bit of fun is over, can we go back to talking about how everything sucks?" Marley said, half smiling.

"I told you once, and I'll tell you again. You can't let Kitty get to you," Ryder said.

"I know, I know," Marley cut him off. "She just.. thinks she's so much better than me. I just..whatever. We have bigger problems at hand. Now that you can't stay at my house, where are you going to stay? You can't go back there, Ryder..." Marley began.

It was like a wave of realization and panic crashed into Ryder, and began drowning him in the sea. This sea was an endless struggle, and couldn't be overcome alone. He felt dizzy.

"Did you seriously forget all about this?" Marley said slowly, watching reality smack the adorable boy in his face.

"I did. I was so busy worrying about you and I... whoa. What the fuck am I doing.." he began panicking.

Marley began rubbing Ryder's back slowly. "Shhh, we will figure this out. Together, okay?"

_Together._

Ryder nodded in appreciation, and practically melted into Marley's touch. It was easily forgettable that they were at lunch.

* * *

The end of the day came too quickly. Marley felt sick.

She couldn't hide from this any longer. They were going to have to go to Ryder's, somehow, and get his stuff. This could end so badly..  
What if his parents started getting violent? What if Ryder got hurt? Would she be strong enough to protect him? One thing's for sure - there was no way he was doing this alone, regardless of his wishes. And oh, he wished.

"Marley there is NO way in HELL you are coming in there with me, letting you drive me here is enough to make me more paranoid that I can deal with -" Ryder began ranting as Marley ignored him, and mindlessly drove the car down the already too familiar and horrifying beautiful road that led to his house.

Marley just smiled. She didn't answer.

"MARLEY! Please!" Ryder began begging.

"Ryder, you should know this by now, for the 800th time, I am not letting you do this alone," Marley said as sternly as possible.

"No."

Then Marley stopped the car.

"Do you REALLY think I'm going to sit here, helpless, and watch you go in there and basically throw yourself at danger? Please, Ryder. I'm not going to be _that_ girl."

"What is THAT girl, exactly? The kind of girl that likes to live?" Ryder said, a bit too dramatic.

"THAT girl is the girl that doesn't let her guy go off while she waits in distress. I thought I lost you once, and I'm not letting that happen again. I don't think I would be able to live through it..." Marley began, the sadness filling each word that she said too quietly.

Ryder stopped yelling. His face beamed. He was glowing.

What?

"_Her_ guy?" Ryder said seductively, moving himself closer to her in the car, and giving her those eyes that made Marley want to explode.

Her face turned a new shade of red. It didn't exist in the natural world, only in the world while Marley somehow lived to embarass herself in front of Mr. Charming.

"Y-y-you know what I.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that, I don't know what we are I didn't -"

And Ryder was so good at silencing Marley when she was nervously rambling. His lips, that once usually gently crushed hers in this lighthearted fashion, now took on a new edge. It was more forceful, more...

Ryder pulled her too close, hugged her too tight. And it wasn't tight enough. Their lips continued synchronizing until it was too much for Marley's sanity or self-control.

She pulled away a significant amount of time later when she felt her blood pressure rising, and when she felt herself clawing into his skin.

Ryder looked disappointed. He just sighed, half smiling at Marley, who was attempting to slow her breathing.

What kind of kiss was that? The kind of kiss that made her want to crawl into the backseat..

_Bad bad bad bad don't look at the arms nope bad_

Her inner monologue was interuppted again by Ryder's gentle lips this time, and then his lips were at her ear.

"We'll have time for that later, as long as you stay in the car..." Ryder whispered, trying to manipulate her at his best.

And Marley almost bought it, too.

Her smile turned to playful anger as she began hitting him. Ryder laughed, and ended up tickling her again, and then suddenly the car was shaking with the sound of synchronized, wind chimes, laughing in harmony.

"That was a nice try, but I'm still going in with you." Marley said as sweetly as she could.

Ryder sighed. "Fine, but I swear to God if I think you are in the slightest of danger you are RUNNING out of there -"

Marley got out of the car, and Ryder followed. "Let's do this," she said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it tight.

"Together."

* * *

It looked dark in the house, despite the time. It was around dinner time. Marley's parents would be wondering why she wasn't home for dinner, but that didn't matter. Most families at dinner at this hour, but not the Lynn's. It looked dead from the windows.

Maybe this would be easier than they thought.

Ryder didn't knock, and gave Marley a final look before he pressed his hand to the door knob.

"I mean it, Marley, if anything happens to you I would fucking kill them and that wouldn't end well for me -"

"Ryder," Marley breathed. "I can take care of myself."

With a final nod, Ryder added pressure to the door knob, and the door opened to the barren, dark living room.

Marley felt her heart rate accelerate, loudly. If they were hiding, this sound would give them away easily.

Ryder was the opposite. His game face was on. The adrenaline shot through his body like a rapid gunshot fire, and his fists clenched as his eyes scanned the room.

Wordlessly, Ryder directed Marley to the staircase, and Marley suddenly felt like this was going to end badly.

"What if they're up there?" Marley whispered so silently, she was sure Ryder didn't hear her. He didn't turn around.

As soon as they reached the peak of the beautiful, winding staircase, horror struck.

_No._

Ryder was held against the wall by his neck, and was gasping for air. He tried to fight, but he couldn't budge.

It was so dark. Marley only heard voices. She wanted to freeze in fear. She wanted to fall to the floor and break down in hysterical tears until the 'bad guys' finally got her. She wanted to give up, she couldn't handle this.

But she had to.

_Ryder_.

Instinct overwhelmed Marley's body and she ran patting the various walls for a lightswitch, and flicked it on, trying her best to concentrate on the sound, or lack of sound, of Ryder's breathing.

She saw the man that she saw once in the doorway, and once in the school. Ryder's father. Was time really passing this slow? Everything felt like slow motion.

With a shift kick in the stomach, Ryder was free of his father's grip. And then all Marley heard was laughter.

"I thought we told you to never come back..." Ryder's father said slowly, sounding more and more like a creature from Marley's nightmares. "But," he had to pause to control his laughter. "You did. And you brought the friend with the navy blue Ford. Excellent."

Ryder's eyes shifted over to Marley, but it was too late to put a halt to the events that were going to occur.

"NO!" Ryder shouted.

A warm hand was wrapped around Marley's neck, a knife pressed directly on her throat from behind.

"If you scream," the woman whispered. "I'll slice your fucking throat. You're the one my son loves, right?" she said.

_Wait, loves?_

And Marley felt like she could faint.

She felt the blackness taking over her body. She almost longed for it, the peaceful, obliviousness that was unconsciousness.

But she had to keep fighting.

"LET GO OF HER!" The exasperated sound of Ryder's raspy, voice cracking demand shot a bullet of reality back into Marley's head, as he began fighting through his father in attempt to rescue her from his mother's grip.

She was awake. She was alive, for now. And she needed to fight.

_"You're the one my son loves, right?"_

And then loud screams escaped Ryder's mother's lips, as Marley bit hard down on her hand, just long enough to break free of her grasp and darted for the closest bedroom, hopefully it would be Ryder's. Ryder had wrestled with his father long enough to break free and followed Marley into the room. Ryder swiftly locked the door behind them, and looked panic stricken.

"Marley, your hand" Ryder said with the most concerned look in his eyes, despite the fact that his parents were banging on the door, and fiddling with the lock. And he was worried about her fucking hand.

She hadn't even noticed until... _oh God. _

_There was so much blood, so much blood..._

"I must have cut it on the knife..." Marley appraised the gash in her palm, and instantly felt whoozy.

Right now was not the time to worry about it.

"Here, grab two of these, and I'll grab the other two," Marley whispered to Ryder, who was grabbing all of his bags. All of them were labeled. As if he had been planning this escape for quite some time.

And then the door was kicked down.

"JUMP!" Ryder exclaimed.

This had to be a snap decision. How long could Ryder hold them off? Could he hold them off alone?

Marley closed her eyes, bag in hand, and climbed out of the window, balancing herself on the edge. It wasn't too far of a drop, but enough to keep her frozen in fear. On the edge. Of this roof.

Ryder, suddenly an Olympic gymnastic, dove out the window, landing perfectly on his two feet, dragging his bags along with him. That was a good 10 foot drop he just gracefully landed, as if he had done it 100 times before.

He probably had.

"MARLEY, YOU HAVE TO JUMP, I'LL CATCH YOU!" Ryder screamed, preparing himself.

Marley closed her eyes, and stepped off the ledge, landing effortlessly in Ryder's strong arms.

And then they were running.

Wordlessly, Marley opened the car door, thankfully she had held on to her keys, and Ryder climbed in.

And they were off.

As soon as they turned off of the street, Ryder exclaimed.

"WE DID IT! YOU DID IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE-" Ryder shouted gleefully.

"Not so fast..." Marley said, her voice so fearful she thought the world was swallowing her in.

Noting the rear view mirror, Ryder turned around in his seat, and saw that his parent's Cadalliac with on their tail.

"HOLY FUCK - THEY DON'T GIVE UP DO THEY" Ryder shouted angrily.

It looked like he was having a mini argument in his head. The silence felt like 20 years, and it had been about 12 seconds.

"TURN LEFT" Ryder instructed.

"Where should we-"

"I'LL TELL YOU, KEEP GOING."

A few turns and twists later, and they were parked in front of the train station.

And Marley suddenly knew what they needed to do.

_Have you ever just wanted to run away?_

_You're the only person that's ever been there for me._

_I will never hurt you, I promise._

_"Maybe if you would stop fucking bag boy"_

_"Everyone says that you think you're better than them just because you can edit an essay-"_

_"This has gone too far, Marley Rose. I thought you wanted to get out of here.."_

_"Do you wanna end up like Jen Kelly down the street? Pregnant at 17? I'm so disappointed in you -"_

Wordlessly, thoughtless, they ran into the train station.

Ryder was certain his parents would have followed him here.

"THE 6:02 TRAIN TO NEW YORK CITY IS NOW DEPARTING" the loudspeaker announced to the station.

Ryder grabbed Marley's shoulders in that short moment.

"Do you trust me?" he said, looking her in the eyes with a look so sincere it made Marley forget the context.

And with a nod, Ryder's hand grabbed hers, amidst the bags on their backs, and they starting running.

Marley would never again be the girl that played it too safe, and pleased her mommy and daddy, and sat alone at lunch.

She would never again be afraid of exploring the world, and trying new things.

The train almost started moving as Ryder boarded, and grabbed Marley's hand to help her up.

In the distance they saw Ryder's parents nearly sprinting after the moving train.

With a sigh of exasperation, and a squeezed hand, Marley locked eyes with Ryder, and they just stared.

Their eyes watched the windows move, and watched the small town they knew disappear before them.

_New York City, here we come._


End file.
